Self and h



31.) F, B. MORSE.

Imprvement in Axle Boxes for Carriages.

$10,122,635; I .Pafeneaiamgnwz duce a lighterbox have been resortedto-as, for instance, a wrought-metal pipe with cast- TES FRANCIS B.MORSE, or PLANTs'vILLE, CONNECTICUT, ASSICNOE To HIM- SELF AND H. I).SMITH ya Co., OE SAME PLACE.

HVIPRSVLEIl-IEN'I'l IN AXLE-BXES FOR CARRIAGES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 122,635, dated January9, 1872.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANCIS B. MORSE, of Plantsville, in the county ofHartford and State oi'Gonnecticut, have invented a new Improvement inAxle-Box for Carria-ges and Ido hereby declare the following, when takenin connection with the accompanying drawing and the letters of referencemarked thereon, to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same,and which said drawing constitutes part of this specification, andrepresents in- Figure l, a side view; Fig. 2, a longitudinal centralsection on line a' w; Fig. 3, a transverse section on line y y,- Fig. 4,a longitudinal seetion on line z z of Fig. 3; Fig. 5, one-half of theblank; and in Fig. 6, a section after the first operation, for thepurpose of illustrating the process of manufacture.

This invention relates to an improvement in the article of manufactureknown to the trade as axle-boxes-that is, the metal box which isarranged within the hub of a carriage-wheel to form a bearing `for thearm of the axle. Usually these have been made of cast metal, and to.give the required strength, and prevent the breakage ofthe boxes by thejar upon the wheel, it has been necessary to make the box. ofconsiderable thickness, at least one-fourth of an inch; consequently thewooden hub itself must be made proportionately larger; but to be inkeeping with the other parts of the carriage and wheels, as improved bythe many devices for strengthening the hub, it is desirable that thewood center or portion of the hub should be very light` Various devicesto prometal shoulders, the two parts secured together; and other devicesfor forming the box from several parts. This so multiplies theoperations inthe process of manufacture as to make such boxes tooexpensive for practical use. The object of this invention is to overcomethese difficulties and produce a box en tirely from wrought metal, at acost little, if any, more than the common cast-metal box; and itconsists of a wrought-metal axle-box, formed complete from a singlepiece of metal.

Of the various devices known to me for producing my new box, I believethe following to be the most desirable: From la blank of sheet metal ofa little greater thickness than the pipe of the box to be produced, Icut a blank substantially the forln seen in Fig. 5, representing Onehalfonly of the plate. The width of this blank corresponds about to theouter circumference of the box to be produced; but in length somewhatshorter, leavingA sufficient metal at the broader portion to form theshoulders and lugs, as hereafter described. By any suitable device thisblank is then brought into tubular form, substantially as shown in seetion in Fig. 6, the edges meeting or overlapping; then this cylindricalblank, heated to a welding heat, is placed in a die of nearly the formof the exterior of the box to be produced; then a follower, conformingnearly to the interior of the box, is dropped with great force upon thesaid die, the follower entering the cylinder-blank, this action beingsufficient to thoroughly weld the edges. Then a second die is employedof exactly the form required for the exterior, having recesses to formthe ribs a. and the enlargement as at d, and the follower constructed toform the shoulders as at ff, and the blankremoved from the first diestill hot is placed in the second die and the follower dropped thereon,completing the box as shown in the drawing. The amount of metal whichwas left at the broader portion of the blank is sufficient to form theribs a, as also to completely form the shoulders f f. In the operationsof welding and the last striking up, the metal is drawn to the lengthrequired for the box, and the box thus produced is so perfeet upon theinside as to require a very slight amount of labor to finish it for theaxle-arm, very much less than that required for castmetal boxes.

While I have described the operation as to be performed by two dies, thefollower striking into the dies, it will be evident that this operationmay be reversed, and it is also evident that but a single die andfollower, viz., the last, may be used but I think, practically, betterresults will be attained by the use of two dies. Instead of forming thebox from a blank to be welded, it may be done from a solid blank ofmetal heated and placed in the die, the follower piercing the-blank anddrawing it into the die to form the box.

As the process of manufacture is not the subject of this application,the above description is given simply as an illustration of the mode ofprocedure in the production of the box.

Other shoulders7 if required, or form of shoulders, may be produced inthe saine manner.

It will be observed that I have formed the lugs or ribs a of A-shape.This allows the box to beforced into the hub Without previous- 1ycutting the hub to receive the ribs, as required t'or boxes of commonconstruction, and

the box when thus inserted is fully as secure as by the usualconstruction of ribs.

I claim as my invention- As an article of manufacture, a Wroughtmetalaxle-box forged complete from a single piece of metal.

F. B. MORSE. Witnesses:

A. J. TIBBITs, J oHN E. EARLE. (31)

